"I still don't understand why you would make these decisions without me," Yakov questioned Selene over a teleconference video call they had set up to go over matters related to Project Phantom. She still didn't feel 100% comfortable leaving the penthouse so she was working from there. It was early Monday morning, and Yakov was still upset that Selene had met with Hybrid to discuss potential work without him. Of course, he didn't know that Selene had no intention of working with Hybrid. She had tried apologizing to him a couple times already, but he kept bringing the issue up as if it was something he could not let go.
"I already explained that it was just something I thought I could handle myself," Selene replied. "I'm sorry again for not consulting you. Is there something you would like me to do to make it up to you? Because I really don't want this affecting our professional collaboration."
Yakov wiped one hand over his eyes and said, "No, you're right. Just please make sure to include me in any follow ups. Has anyone from the university followed up with you?"
She felt bad for having to go behind Yakov's back and lie to him. "Not yet. But I will let you know when they do," Selene answered.
"Okay, then let's move on to…," Yakov steered them to the agenda for the meeting.
After discussing a couple items, Selene asked, "Don't you find it weird that we still keep getting these isolated cases with the code like what I'm about to show on the screen here?" She shared her screen to show him where they kept running into issues seemingly out of nowhere. "See, here and here," she pointed out with her cursor on the screen.
Yakov nodded but then said, "Sounds like one of the lab assistants isn't paying attention. I'll have a talk with them."
"But this is across the board from all of our work," Selene countered.
"Hmmm," Yakov pondered as his nose scrunched up. "What do you think it could be?"
Selene shook her head as she answered, "I'm not sure but it's frustrating. These are the ones we are catching but I'm afraid of any we might be missing. I think we need to take some time and maybe do a full review."
Yakov leaned back and hissed through his teeth. "Is that really necessary?," he questioned, "I mean, that will set us back in our time line by quite a bit."
"I'm not sure what else to do," she responded with a tilt of her head, surprised since he was usually very cautious when it came to coding. "Do you have any suggestions?"
"Not off the top of my head but let's think about it for a couple days and see if we can come up with any ideas," he said.
Selene shook her head again, "I don't think we have that luxury at this point since this has been going on for a few weeks now."
He leaned forward and with a tinge of hostility asked, "Are you making another unilateral decision?"
She was shocked at his behavior as this was not like him at all. "Is everything okay, Yakov?," she asked back. "You know that's not how I meant it at all. I'm just really concerned about the project."
"Are you saying I'm not?," he shot back.
At this point, Selene did not know how to respond. Her eyes widened as she said, "Whoa, where did that come from? You know I would never imply that. I don't understand why taking a conservative approach is the wrong move here?"
"Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. I guess I've just been stressed out lately. I just really don't see the need to take a step back when everything seems to be going okay. Yes, these anomalies are appearing, but we are catching them and I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of it as we move forward."
Selene sighed, "Okay. If you think that's what's best."
Yakov let out a breath and said, "I do. Let's focus on something we should really be concerned about."
"What's that?," she asked confused.
He smiled and replied, "The coffee machine broke on Friday so we need to vote on what type to get next."
That was the Yakov she knew. Selene chuckled. "I'll leave it up to you all," she said.
As soon as she got off the call with Yakov, Selene walked over to Ben's office and knocked on the open door before peeking her head in. "Hey, do you have a minute?," she asked.
"Yes, come in," he replied, "I don't need to leave for another half hour or so. How was your call with Yakov?"
Before she could answer, Ben's cell phone rang. It was Max. After talking for a few seconds, he hung up the phone and said, "So much for a leisurely morning before heading in."
As Ben stood up, Selene asked, "Is everything okay?"
He came over to face her, putting both hands on her upper arms. With a reassuring look, he said, "I don't want you to worry because you are safe here, but it looks like Victor is back in town."
"Good thing I stayed home, huh?," Selene asked, not able to hide her fear as it showed clearly on her face.
Ben pulled her in for a hug and stroked her back as he sighed, "I promise I won't let that bastard near you. This building is monitored every second of the day but if you want I can send Maria in here with you."
Selene thought about it. "Will you think less of me if I say yes to having Maria here?," she asked, looking down."
He raised her chin up with his finger and gave her a kiss. Then he looked her straight in the eyes and said, "In my eyes, you are the bravest and strongest person there is. Think of what you've survived." He hugged her again. "I'll leave as soon as she comes up from downstairs."
When Ben arrived at the office, Max was waiting for him in his office. "Where's Johnny?," Ben asked.
"He had some calls to make but said to let him know when you arrived, so I'll text him now," Max responded.
A couple minutes later, Johnny walked in, holding his laptop, which had an active video call in progress that was muted. The screen was also muted on Johnny's end, but it was clear there were several Chinese businessmen around a table on the other side of the call.
Ben gave Johnny a questioning look and he replied, "The Zhous. I finally got them to take our call."
Once Ben, Max, and Johnny were settled around the laptop, Johnny unmuted everything and said in Mandarin, "Thank you for your patience. Mr. Liu has joined the meeting so let us continue."
The conversation that proceeded to take place involved Ben doing most of the talking and asking the factory owners about why they had met with Victor Drakos when they had been specifically told he was a competitor on this venture.
"Our pardons, Mr. Liu," one of the brothers responded. "But you are a businessman as we are and we cannot ignore the opportunity for more business. Mr. Drakos insisted that he had an offer that we could not afford to turn away from considering. And as it turns out, he was correct."
Ben looked at Johnny but did not show any emotion. He turned back to the screen and asked, "What does that mean exactly."
"I'm afraid that it means our factory will have to withdraw from the deal negotiations when it comes to Project Phantom," Zhou replied.
"Are you saying that Drakos somehow suggested he has this technology? Because let me assure you that according to our patent laws, he does not and cannot," Ben urged.
The man on the other end of the call licked his lips and apologized again. "Mr. Liu, we have done much business together. I hope you know how much our family values your family. But we have to do what is best for our family at this time. Please understand."
Johnny shot a look at Ben who did not move. Max tilted his head to one side in thought. Ben said, "We understand. In consideration of our long history together, perhaps would you be open to having Johnny here come visit your family and bring our regards to assure that we can do business in the future?"
The men around the table began nodding and the brother who had been speaking the most said, "That would be very kind of Mr. Masterson to visit our humble home. We would welcome him."
Ben nodded, "Wonderful. He will contact you to make the arrangements in a few moments." After farewells were said, they hung up the call.
Max said, "Just so I'm clear, that was their not so subtle way of letting us know that Drakos is somehow blackmailing them into breaking the deal with us and working with him?"
Johnny shook his head in disgust and answered, "That about sums it up. Why else would our partner, and pretty much the only factory in that part of China capable of assembling Phantom machines all of a sudden fall to Drakos. I knew that asshole was up to no good but to go this far."
"It's okay. We can fix this," Ben said calmly even though his blood was boiling. "Or more to the point, you can fix this. We need to get you there without Drakos finding out."
"I think I can handle that," Johnny said as he picked up his laptop and headed out the door.
Max said, "Assuming we get the factory back on target but Drakos thinks they are in his pocket, what's the next move?"
Ben sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "We have to make Victor think he has the upper hand," Ben replied. "For whatever reason, he thinks he either has or is going to get these machines to be his. But our contracts are solid right? And the patents too?"
Max nodded vehemently, "Absolutely. Iron-clad. That's what surprises me. Obviously, he is trying to pull something under-handed but the question is what? Something tells me it's not just him falling for the Hybrid ruse."
Ben looked at Max, admiring the astuteness of his assistant and friend. "I agree," he said, "I think that's part of it, but there's more. Something we're not seeing."
"You don't think he'd go after Selene again, do you?," Max asked. "You know, try and make her sign the projects over to him or something like that?"
"It's a definite possibility," Ben answered as a shiver ran down his spine at the thought. "But he won't get the chance if we have anything to say about it that's for damn sure."